1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fuel cell power supply which has a fuel cell and a power storage means and supplies electric power from the fuel cell and the power storage means to electric loads via a DC-DC converter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a fuel cell power supply having a deterioration determining function of a fuel cell, there has been suggested, for example, a fuel cell power supply having a configuration in which a fuel cell and a secondary battery are connected in parallel with each other to determine a deterioration level of the fuel cell on the basis of a change in output power relative to the output current of the fuel cell (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-331849).
In the fuel cell power supply disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-331849, a storage unit previously stores data of a relation (I-P characteristics) between the output current and output power of the fuel cell in the initial state of the fuel cell and in the deteriorated state thereof. The deterioration level of the fuel cell is then determined by applying detected values of the output current and output power of the fuel cell to the data of the I-P characteristics.
In this manner, the fuel cell power supply disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-331849 determines the deterioration level of the fuel cell on the basis of the preset I-P characteristics of the fuel cell in the initial state of the fuel cell and in the deteriorated state of the fuel cell. Therefore, the fuel cell power supply has a problem of being incapable of accurately detecting the deterioration level of the fuel cell due to an effect of individual variability of the I-P characteristics of the fuel cell.
The present invention has been provided in view of the above background. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel cell power supply capable of accurately determining a deterioration level of a fuel cell or a power storage means.